Hell and Back (The 100)

34 - Warrior

Finn has been following a trail of tracks for the past ten minutes. We lost the others who came out hunting, everyone went off in their own directions. The four of us agreed to stick together. I didn't really want to go off with anyone else and it was amusing to watch Myles annoy Finn. 

Despite being with someone who had a gun, I'm still a little nervous about being out in the woods. The Grounders knew these woods better than anyone. Luckily, it's still daylight out. Unfortunately, the Grounders had the ability to blend themselves in if they were out here somewhere. 

The hairs on the back of my neck have been standing up for a couple minutes now. Something felt wrong. I may just be paranoid about being outside of camp. 

The spear is held tightly in my hands in front of my body. My aim wasn't too bad with it, but it wasn't that great either. The whole reason I said I would come out here was to practice my skills with a spear. I wish Finn would just find this animal already so I could practice. 

Finn crouches down on the ground, examining the tracks. I slowly trail behind them, only ten feet or so away from them. The whole time we've been out here, I've been scanning the trees for any sign of movement that didn't belong to an animal. 

Suddenly, two hands grab my body and pull me behind a tree, one hand sliding over my mouth before I can yell out a warning. My heart pounds in my chest. 

Grounders. 

I try to fight the Grounder off until their head slides down beside mine and I tense up when I recognize them. "Lincoln?" I breathe against his palm over my mouth. 

What the hell is going on? Why would he do this? Dread sinks into my body. What does Lincoln know that we don't? 

"Shh..." Lincoln quietly hushes me. He keeps me tightly pressed against his body and angles our bodies enough to see my three friends up ahead without being seen. 

None of them have noticed my disappearance. Finn is still crouched down on the ground with Clarke and Myles standing behind him. 

"One of those scaly panther things?" Myles asks out of curiosity. 

"Boar." Finn responds. 

"Good," Myles walks closer to him. "Because that panther meat is nasty, but I could eat a whole boar by myself, no joke. You know what the best part is of the boar? It's gonna sound gross--"

"Myles, quiet for a second." Clarke snaps at the younger boy.

Thoughts run through my mind of why Lincoln pulled me away from my friends. The only logical reason is that more of his kind are coming. My eyes snap down to the ground at one of the tracks Finn has been following. 

Oh, no.

We aren't tracking down an animal. The Grounders are tracking down us. 

I try to open my mouth and call out a warning to my friends, except Lincoln's grip on me tightens and his presses his hand against my mouth harder. They are going to be attacked and there's nothing  I can do to save them. 

Clarke crouches down beside Finn, lowering her voice. "What is it?"

"These tracks." Finn stares down at them in confusion.

"They're perfect." Clarke realizes. 

"Too perfect."

Hope bubbles inside of me. If they realize they're being tracked down right now, they may have a chance of getting away before the Grounders catch them. 

I still against Lincoln's hold. He did this to protect me. Lincoln doesn't want me to be captured. If the Grounders take them, I'll be able to tell everyone at camp what happened. No one would know they were taken, if the Grounders take me, too.